CHELSEA manager Carlo Ancelotti has revealed that he has steered his team to their unbeaten start to the season despite dashing to and from Italy to look after his seriously ill father.

Giuseppe Ancelotti, 87, a retired farmer, is suffering from problems connected with diabetes, and his devoted son has been flying home after every game to be at his bedside.

Ancelotti will watch Chelsea attempt to extend their winning run at the start of this campaign to five games in the Premier League when they take on Blackpool tomorrow, then straight afterwards board a plane to Bologna, returning on Tuesday to prepare for the following night’s Carling Cup tie with Newcastle.

An emotional Ancelotti had tears in his eyes as he said last night: “My father is not well. He’s an old man. When possible I have to fly back to
Italy to see him. He has a lot of problems – I don’t want to explain
them. It’s difficult, emotionally, when it’s your father, but this is
life. I have to do my best to stay close to him.”

Stoke manager Tony Pulis took charge of the second
half of his team’s win against Aston Villa on Monday night, after his
mother had died earlier in the day. But Ancelotti insisted he is still
able to put aside the worry and concentrate on the job of keeping
Chelsea at the top of the table.

“Everyone knows
my situation. I don’t have a problem managing the team for this
reason,” he said.

“My father has good support
from my sister when I am not there. It’s not difficult to keep my focus.
The flights are very regular from Gatwick to Bologna. I can do it. But I
will not miss the games.”

As for Pulis’s
strength of focus, Ancelotti said: “It’s a personal choice, that
behaviour. When it’s your mother or father, everyone has to decide
what’s best for them. I don’t know if I could do that.”

Ancelotti has been dashing out regularly to see his
father at the family home at Reggiolo, between Milan and Parma, after he
first became ill last year.

There will be
changes to Ancelotti’s team tomorrow with Didier Drogba back from
suspension and Ashley Cole recalled, but Frank Lampard is still not yet
fit.